Kitsap Transit reaches agreement with Port of Kingston for use of dock

The 149-passenger Kingston Express served as the backup boat for the SoundRunner ferry service from Kingston to Seattle between 2010-2012. Port of Kingston commissioners voted Friday to sell the boat to a Bellingham company for $250,000.(Photo: Christian Vosler)

BREMERTON — Kitsap Transit's commissioners on Tuesday approved a lease agreement that will allow the transit agency to use a Port of Kingston-owned dock for its passenger-only fast ferry service to Seattle.

The 50-year lease agreement lets Kitsap Transit use the dock, a covered gangway, a ticketing kiosk and a floating barge for passenger loading and vessel storage.

The deal clears one more hurdle for fast ferry service between Kingston and Seattle, which is supposed to begin later this year. Kitsap Transit and the port have been trying to work out a deal for several months.

"I'm very appreciative of the port's willingness to work collaboratively with us and get this put together in a pretty timely fashion," Kitsap Transit executive director John Clauson said.

Instead of monthly rent, Kitsap Transit will pay the port a "prepaid rent" of $1.3 million, which will be used to for improvements to the facility.

A floating barge where vessels will be tied up needs to be taken to dry dock for repairs, and a portion of the pier — the "transfer span" — requires renovations. Fuel and sewer lines will also be extended to reach the vessels.

The port will be in charge of designing and bidding the improvements. Once complete, Kitsap Transit will be responsible for any repairs and maintenance.

"John (Clauson) and I and our attorneys really worked together to try and figure out the best way for both of our interests," Port executive director Jim Pivarnik said. "I believe that the deal we put together does that."

Both agencies praised the deal — Kitsap Transit gets a dock for its fast ferry program, while the port gets money for improvements to its dock and a source of long-term revenue from fuel sales and parking.

"We're looking at growing a partnership with Kitsap Transit and growing over the years," Pivarnik said. "Hopefully they're going to be so wildly successful that we're going to need to do enhancements to the facility."

Pivarnik said the board has awarded one bid for repairs to the gangway already. He expects most of the work to be done by August.

Fast ferry service from Kingston is slated to start later this year. The vessel that will operate on the route, the M/V Finest, is undergoing repairs at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders on Whidbey Island.